TESTIMONY. Victim of sexual abuse by the Church in his youth, he asked for a mass of forgiveness

In addition to financial reparations, many victims of sexual abuse by the Church seek “restorative approaches” to deal with the trauma. Franceinfo met a man for whom a mass of forgiveness was celebrated.

It was a little over three months ago. Since then, he feels “a little liberated”. Since this mass of forgiveness, celebrated in November, Phillippe Wadoux, resident of Brézé (1,200 inhabitants) in Maine-et-Loire, also feels a little more serene, more than 50 years after his stays at “Coeur Vaillant”. A sort of Catholic summer center in the North, of which he remembers “a priest, but not his face”, “a dark room with a smell” And “an unpleasant sensation of touch.”

According to a report published Thursday March 14 by the Independent National Authority for the Recognition and Reparation of Victims of Sexual Abuse in the Church (Inirr), 570 victims have obtained financial compensation since the Sauvé report, which put the figure at 330,000 on number of victims of sexual abuse by members of the Church since 1950. These financial reparations are between 20,000 and 39,000 euros. Other victims, like Phillippe Wadoux, also requested restorative measures. There were 187 in 2023 according to Inirr.

“It’s not courage, it was a need, it’s visceral.”

“There is something essential because the restorative approach is chosen. It is decided by the victims, unlike the financial contribution which is set by the college, explains Jean-François Badin, situation referent at Inirr. VSThis is an approach that will be concrete, in reality. There is really a power to act, in a certain way, which is rediscovered.”

Philippe Wadoux therefore chose for the mass to be held in Grand-Fort-Philippe (North), “behind the church, in the places where I experienced this mistreatment” and presented himself there on November 26, 2023. On a video that he shows us, we see him arriving at the desk, talking about the silence in which he remained for fifty years and the suffering he suffered. “It’s not couragehe retorts, it was a need, it’s visceral. I couldn’t do otherwise.”

Not to do otherwise, after having built his life with the feeling that something happened in his youth, without knowing what. He was between 7 and 9 years old at the time of the sexual violence he suffered, but until recently he did not remember it. Three years ago, he noticed his first flashes. He then begins his investigation in 2022 on the internet, requests the diocese of the Creuse region, the archives, with the support of Inirr. In 2023, he finally obtained a letter from the Archbishop of Lille which recognized the sad reality of the facts, granted him financial compensation and above all, this mass of forgiveness. More important to him than money: “I was paralyzed, paralyzed. But I intrinsically needed to be there physically.”